So for all those that don't want to pick a QB with the #2...

[Phinfan1980]

An option you don't list is to draft a QB this year but in a lower round. Saban may see a sleeper in the later rounds.

 

[BlueFin]

I agree with D...Is AJ Feely that worse than Brad Johnson who won a super bowl..

Brad Johnson had one of the three best defenses in history, what do you think the odds are of the Dolphins fielding a defense that effective anytime soon?

Brad Johnson was more efficient that year than AJ has yet to show himself to be.

Make no mistake about it, the QB position is the single most important position on the field.

 

[supertek]

My desire to stay away from QB's at the #2 pick is not related to AJ Feeley's future potential or lack thereof. It's a major mistake to reach for something that is not there. I am disappointed there isn't a franchise QB available, but as Saban said, some things are out of your control. Smith and Rogers are 3rd round talents most years. You don't take them at #2. The BPA at #2 will be either Mike Williams or Braylon Edwards. Maybe we can get a QB to develop in a later round, maybe not. By the way, do you know how many 1st round QB's have won a superbowl in the last several years?

 

[Oboy]

My desire to stay away from QB's at the #2 pick is not related to AJ Feeley's future potential or lack thereof. It's a major mistake to reach for something that is not there. I am disappointed there isn't a franchise QB available, but as Saban said, some things are out of your control. Smith and Rogers are 3rd round talents most years. You don't take them at #2. The BPA at #2 will be either Mike Williams or Braylon Edwards. Maybe we can get a QB to develop in a later round, maybe not. By the way, do you know how many 1st round QB's have won a superbowl in the last several years?

Very well said. Don't think I could have said it better...

Feeley is getting another chance... not because he 'deserves it', but there is just not a better option THIS year. WHO knows, maybe Feeley will prove people wrong about him!? Hope so anyway.

 

[BlueFin]

My desire to stay away from QB's at the #2 pick is not related to AJ Feeley's future potential or lack thereof. It's a major mistake to reach for something that is not there. I am disappointed there isn't a franchise QB available, but as Saban said, some things are out of your control. Smith and Rogers are 3rd round talents most years. You don't take them at #2. The BPA at #2 will be either Mike Williams or Braylon Edwards. Maybe we can get a QB to develop in a later round, maybe not. By the way, do you know how many 1st round QB's have won a superbowl in the last several years?

Where to begin............Smith and Rodgers are first round talents, both are better than Losman who went in the first last year, both would be comparable to Rivers and Roethlisberger from last years draft. You say they are third round talents and that makes them so?

Half the Superbowls have been won by first round quarterbacks. You don't conduct an accurate study by limiting it to a few years.

I trust Saban to make the right decision, whatever that may be, we can debate whether to draft a QB, RB or WR, but to say the QB's shouldn't be considered because they are in your words "third round talent" is laughable.

 

[BSQX4]

The high quality Q.B. lifts his whole team. Pittsburgh and New England are prime examples. Bledsoe wasn't winning Super Bowls.

 

[PhinBeck]

Very well said. Don't think I could have said it better...

Feeley is getting another chance... not because he 'deserves it', but there is just not a better option THIS year. WHO knows, maybe Feeley will prove people wrong about him!? Hope so anyway.

See I believe AJ deserves another chance. Yes I believe there are qbs that would have performed better in teh circumstance than AJ did, but for the most part, I believe those qbs are established top 7 qbs in the league. I dont believe either rookie qb would have (Smith, Rodgers). I believe that is important to ask yourself when evaluating AJ, could the qb you want to replace AJ have performed better? I dont believe these qbs in teh draft could have. Now some will say AJ wasnt a rookie, true, but he wasnt an experienced veteran either. since High School, he has 13 starts, hardly experienced enough to handle the situation and carry teh offense on his back, which he tried to do early. When he improved it was because he wasnt forcing things trying to make teh big play every play. SO yes experience wise he was not more experienced game wise. He had just been in teh league. When we traded for him it was a situation that we believed it was teh equivalent to getting a qb who you had drafted and sat and now was ready to play, but had a learning curve and had to be spoon fed, managed and kept on a leash similar to what NE did with Brady his first 2 years to give him experience. That fell apart when Ricky retired and teh o-line didnt gel, now he has to carry teh offense, he wasnt ready.

That is not also to say you just hand him teh reigns and say there ya go and we arent doing that. Saban is being very thorough in his evaluation of every position and will not be stuck if any players dont cut it.

 

[BlueFin]

See I believe AJ deserves another chance. Yes I believe there are qbs that would have performed better in teh circumstance than AJ did, but for the most part, I believe those qbs are established top 7 qbs in the league. I dont believe either rookie qb would have (Smith, Rodgers). I believe that is important to ask yourself when evaluating AJ, could the qb you want to replace AJ have performed better? I dont believe these qbs in teh draft could have. Now some will say AJ wasnt a rookie, true, but he wasnt an experienced veteran either. since High School, he has 13 starts, hardly experienced enough to handle the situation and carry teh offense on his back, which he tried to do early. When he improved it was because he wasnt forcing things trying to make teh big play every play. SO yes experience wise he was not more experienced game wise. He had just been in teh league. When we traded for him it was a situation that we believed it was teh equivalent to getting a qb who you had drafted and sat and now was ready to play, but had a learning curve and had to be spoon fed, managed and kept on a leash similar to what NE did with Brady his first 2 years to give him experience. That fell apart when Ricky retired and teh o-line didnt gel, now he has to carry teh offense, he wasnt ready.

That is not also to say you just hand him teh reigns and say there ya go and we arent doing that. Saban is being very thorough in his evaluation of every position and will not be stuck if any players dont cut it.

I don't think its fair or right to say could a 20 year old Alex Smith play better last year than AJ did.

If Saban does draft Rodgers or Smith it will be for the "long term value" to this team, not because he thinks as rookies they can outplay AJ.

 

[MarinoEqualsGod]

So for all of you that don't want to take a qb due to the perceived value of Rodgers and Smith, that must mean that you believe that
A) AJ Feeley is our franchise qb of the future, no doubt about it
B) AJ deserves a chance and if he fails, we'll be able to pick up a better qb next year(with most likely a lower pick) and wait for him to develop another year
C) Same as above, but we can find our qb of the future via FA, sitting on someone else's roster (a la AJ Feeley),
or
D) QB is an overrated position and we can do just fine with our avg backup qbs as long as we have a dominant RB/WR/Oline/system

I'm curious which of these you believe to be the case, or is there an option I've not considered?

I believe that IF we are able to get a 2nd round pick, that's where we take a qb. I'd take Charlie Frye in the 2nd round because i don't think he'll be around by the 3rd. He's looked at as a Brett Favre type player. He can sling it, and often plays injured. He also plays in the MAC, which has recently been a QB haven (Leftwitch, Pennington, Rothlisburger). We should draft a RB in the first round, whether we trade down or not, then take Frye in the 2nd.

 

[motioncityhifi]

my choice is E.... If we take a QB with the #2 pick then essentially we have taken 2 quarterbacks with our first two picks and then invest a decent size of our salary cap towards two QBs with by your logic means one of them would have to sit. So lets pay alot of money to a 2nd or 3rd stringer. We cant get rid of him because of his cap hit. Makes no sense to take another QB considering had Smith and Rodgers come out last year, they wouldnt have been drafted so high. Rodgers has the Tedford factor and Smith mostly played out of the shotgun. To be honest with you, Id rather have Feely with weapons around him and a good line. Hard to judge a guy when his a&$ swelled up to half the size of his body since he was getting rocked every play.

 

[BlueFin]

my choice is E.... If we take a QB with the #2 pick then essentially we have taken 2 quarterbacks with our first two picks and then invest a decent size of our salary cap towards two QBs with by your logic means one of them would have to sit. So lets pay alot of money to a 2nd or 3rd stringer. We cant get rid of him because of his cap hit. Makes no sense to take another QB considering had Smith and Rodgers come out last year, they wouldnt have been drafted so high. Rodgers has the Tedford factor and Smith mostly played out of the shotgun. To be honest with you, Id rather have Feely with weapons around him and a good line. Hard to judge a guy when his a&$ swelled up to half the size of his body since he was getting rocked every play.

Feeley is not a highly paid QB, so its only the rookie who will have a big contract.

 

[DoLpHiNz34]

Where to begin............Smith and Rodgers are first round talents, both are better than Losman who went in the first last year, both would be comparable to Rivers and Roethlisberger from last years draft. You say they are third round talents and that makes them so?

Half the Superbowls have been won by first round quarterbacks. You don't conduct an accurate study by limiting it to a few years.

I trust Saban to make the right decision, whatever that may be, we can debate whether to draft a QB, RB or WR, but to say the QB's shouldn't be considered because they are in your words "third round talent" is laughable.

Losman was regarded as the most physically talented of the group. It was his attitude that everyone was staying away from. From what I've read, he is very arrogant and some teams saw this as a negative. I personally like that trait in a QB but hey. There are questions about the arm strength that Smith possesses and his ability when under center. Losman has all the tools. Period. I would say it's a toss up between Losman and Rodgers because both are very gifted athletes with Losman edging him out by a little, IMO.

 

[Pocoloco]

So for all of you that don't want to take a qb due to the perceived value of Rodgers and Smith, that must mean that you believe that
A) AJ Feeley is our franchise qb of the future, no doubt about it
B) AJ deserves a chance and if he fails, we'll be able to pick up a better qb next year(with most likely a lower pick) and wait for him to develop another year
C) Same as above, but we can find our qb of the future via FA, sitting on someone else's roster (a la AJ Feeley),
or
D) QB is an overrated position and we can do just fine with our avg backup qbs as long as we have a dominant RB/WR/Oline/system

I'm curious which of these you believe to be the case, or is there an option I've not considered?

I don't think we ought to draft Rodgers or Smith at #2. That said, I don't think Feeley is a franchise type of QB, but I just don't think that Rodgers or Smith are either. I probably agree more with B than anything else. Despite the Brad Johnson/Trent Dilfer stuff, the QB is the playmaker. He has the ball in his hands on nearly every play. I think Feeley will be better than Fiedler by the end of the season, but I don't know if you want to build a team around that.
#2 should be reserved for a genuine playmaker, and I think Edwards or Brown fit that bill. But I think it would be a mistake not to draft a QB in the later rounds and I think this might be an option your original post didn't consider. Personally, I'd like to give McPherson a shot but I see the value in an Andrew Walters or David Greene too. Either way, any rookie QB in this year's draft is gonna ride the bench for a year or two.

 

[MarinoEqualsGod]

Feeley is not a highly paid QB, so its only the rookie who will have a big contract.

Didn't Feeley sign a five year, $25 million contract when we traded for him?

 

[DonShula84]

I'm with option B. If Feeley doesnt develop like we need him to this year we can cut him and start really looking for our franchise QB. I think we invested to much in Feeley to not give him a chance. And if I remember correctly Feeleys contract was back loaded, so we could cut him after 2 years and not lose an arm and a leg?